THE NEW EMPIRE 87

declarations of his anxious desire for the maintenance of peace all
over the world.

Count Karolyi appeared well pleased with the general tone of
Prince Bismarck's conversation, from which he concluded that
the Prince's object is to prevent war by a timely warning to
France through other governments of the danger it incurs by
exaggerated armaments and anti-German conspiracies with the
ultramontane party in Europe.

On the other hand, Prince Karolyi fears that if France carries
out her armaments as at present proposed, Prince Bismarck will
act on his threat of anticipating an attack on the part of France,
before she is ready in 1877, that is next year, but he does not
expect the peace of Europe will be disturbed before then—and
not even then if France will take Prince Bismarck's warnings to
heart."

Bismarck's words on the duty of preventive war leave the
Radowitz apologists without any firm ground and dispose once
for all of all the casuistical explanations that have since seen the
light—at this moment there is no doubt that Bismarck was
trying to accustom Europe to the idea of war. His absurd assump-
tion that France was having small money printed as wages for
troops was investigated. The explanation was simple. Such
money had indeed been printed ever since 1871, but its object
was to prevent shortage owing to the payment of the indemnity
rather than to facilitate the declaration of a new war.

Lord Odo Russell still found it difficult to believe in the scare,
but he had to admit that the position was very tense.

To Lord Derby. Confidential. 27 April I875.1—

". . . While the officious press continues to familiarize the public
with the idea that another war to save Germany from her enemies
will be sooner or later unavoidable, the language of the German
Government is pacific and reassuring as to the present and the
hope is entertained as to the future, that the warning given by
the press of Berlin will be sufficient to convince the French
Government that they had better desist from organizing their
army in a manner that must be looked upon as a threat to
Germany.

Field Marshal Count Moltke is said to be of opinion that if the
French Government persist in their present system of arma-

1F.O. 64. 826. No. 184,